Indiana University Press blogtag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-5903792016-12-09T06:00:00-05:00The Indiana University Press blog features news on our authors, books, journals, and electronic publicationsTypePadIndianaUniversityPressBloghttps://feedburner.google.comThree Questions About President-Elect Donald Trumptag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341fdff053ef01b7c8b952b8970b2016-12-09T06:00:00-05:002016-12-08T10:25:50-05:00A month after the 2016 presidential election, President-elect Donald Trump is setting up his cabinet and preparing to transition his administration into power. But what sort of challenges are coming? We spoke with John D. Graham, the Dean of the...iupress

A month after the 2016 presidential election, President-elect Donald Trump is setting up his cabinet and preparing to transition his administration into power. But what sort of challenges are coming? We spoke with John D. Graham, the Dean of the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs and author of two books on the presidency: Bush on the Home Front and Obama on the Home Front.

Both of these books deal with the challenges presidents can face in domestic policies and local affairs. Graham answered our questions on how the Trump administration could navigate its upcoming move into power.

IU Press: As President-elect Trump looks past the transition into power, what challenges will he face in his first weeks in office?

John D. Graham: He could face a surprise. President Obama did. When his campaign positions were devised, President Obama certainly had no reason to foresee that his initial policy actions in January 2009 would focus on the rescue of failing financial institutions and auto companies. Obama claimed that voters repudiated the economic policies of the Republican Party, but he had no electoral mandate for short-term economic policies. Under the circumstances, his track record enacting short term economic policy should be judged as impressive. Obama’s deployment of executive powers in this period was masterful. He worked the informal collaboration with Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke to help forestall a repeat of the Great Depression, to boost confidence on Wall Street, and to lower interest rates enough to help revive car sales and home construction. Trump appears to be inheriting a relatively strong economy but there may be other domestic policy issues lurking that will test him early in his term.

IUP: You’ve covered the “home front” efforts of Presidents Bush and Obama throughout their time in office. What similarities do you see in their experiences in office?

JDG: As President Barack Obama’s two-term presidency comes to a close, I am struck by a disheartening phenomenon that both Bush and Obama experi­enced. In football there is an infraction called “piling on,” but in politics there is no penalty for this behavior. I refer to the ease with which blame is assigned to whomever is the current president for virtually everything bad that hap­pens in Washington, DC, or even in the country or world at large. That blame comes not simply from the president’s partisan opponents but from members of the president’s party as well. Trump can expect this to an even greater degree because of the divisions in his own party. The honeymoon, if there even is one, will be brief.

IUP: So, if he learns from the examples of presidents Bush and Obama, what should Trump do domestically in his first months in office?

JDG: In the book, I offer a series of lessons learned from the first months of the Obama presidency. Let me summarize two of them. Trump should begin his term with an initiative that appeals to his base. President Obama did this with the Affordable Care Act and the economic stimulus package. He compromised too much on the details to please some of his base but he was attuned to their priorities. Secondly, Trump should offer one or more legislative initiatives that appeal to centrists, especially initiatives that facilitate collaboration between pragmatists from both parties in the Congress. Obama didn’t do this. He was perceived as a transformational liberal because his domestic priorities were overwhelmingly progressive. One result of this was a series of legislative votes that resulted in enormous losses for the Democrats in the first midterm election in Obama’s first term. Obama would have protected his party by pursuing his agenda through executive action. Whether they like it or not, it is crucial—under conditions of polarization—for presidents to see themselves as leader of their political party as well as leader of the country. One of the fascinating aspects of the early days of the Trump presidency will be whether he sees himself as the Republican Party leader and acts accordingly to protect his majorities in Congress or whether he remains the outsider and lets the chips fall where they may.

http://iupress.typepad.com/blog/2016/12/three-questions-about-president-elect-donald-trump.htmlSupport Gatlinburg fire relief and win a copy of 'The Great Smoky Mountains'tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341fdff053ef01b7c8ba3aec970b2016-12-08T13:36:06-05:002016-12-08T14:46:50-05:00A massive wildfire throughout the area surrounding Gatlinburg, Tennessee has seriously damaged an extraordinarily beautiful area of the United States. In response to the tragic loss of life, property, and natural resources, IU Press is highlighting the work done by...iupress

A massive wildfire throughout the area surrounding Gatlinburg, Tennessee has seriously damaged an extraordinarily beautiful area of the United States.

While we encourage donations to the fund, we also want to highlight the beauty of the Great Smoky Mountains, and to that end, we're giving readers an opportunity to win a copy of The Great Smoky Mountains: A Visual Journey by Lee Mandrell and DeeDee Niederhouse-Mandrell. Their work highlights the breathtaking vistas and natural wildlife of the Smoky Mountains, which you can see below.

The copyright to all the images below is held by Lee Mandrell. Used with permission.

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http://iupress.typepad.com/blog/2016/12/support-gatlinburg-fire-relief-and-win-a-copy-of-the-great-smoky-mountains.htmlEditor’s Choice: “Working the City” | Transition 121tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341fdff053ef01bb095ce023970d2016-12-07T16:33:54-05:002016-12-07T16:43:56-05:00Bernard Matambo’s article, "Working the City," has been awarded Editor’s Choice for Transition’s newest issue and can now be read for free at JSTOR. Below, Bernard elaborates on how raising airfare to the States becomes a full-time occupation for two Zimbabwean students determined to study in the U.S.IU Press Journals

Bernard Matambo’s article, "Working the City," has been awarded Editor’s Choice for Transition’s newest issue and can now be read for free at JSTOR.

Below, Bernard elaborates on how raising airfare to the States becomes a full-time occupation for two Zimbabwean students determined to study in the U.S.

In Transition 121, “Childhood,” Bernard Matambo offers a lyrical yet sobering account of the myriad challenges facing young Zimbabweans struggling to realize their dream of attending college in the United States. Raising money to pay airfare for the flights he reserves (and re-books each week to keep hope alive) becomes a pavement-pounding, full-time affair for a young student and his friend. Wearing his prom suit, and with a borrowed folder from the U.S. Embassy, he bluffs his way past security guards in banks and corporate offices to try to make his case directly to the executives he then wanders around to find.

Finding bittersweet humor in this earnest, yet potentially hopeless endeavor, the reader is left to wonder—did he ever make it to college in Ohio? Though not flagged as such in the issue, this piece is autobiographical, leaving us in the editorial office to want more of the story…

Transition: Toward the end of “Working the City” we read: “We have never actually discussed what we want of ourselves once we head off, what it is Cato and I want to achieve by leaving. But I assume it’s something good.” Can you reflect a bit (now that you are a college professor in Ohio) on what the leaving achieved? How would you advise that younger self, knowing what you know now?

Bernard: I think at that time leaving achieved a few direct and positive objectives. It allowed me to have access to a good education for one, one that allowed me to pursue a range of my academic interest, which included Writing. In that way, I was quite fortunate. Ironically too, by leaving I got to learn more about us as African people. Of course departure is accompanied by its own challenges. The piece in Transition is from a forthcoming book, where I explore this and a range of other themes that are not entirely disconnected.

I don't know if I would have any sound advice to my younger self. America has had its challenges, but it has also been kind to me. I had already been warned to moisturize well in winter, and not to assume that toothy smiles from strangers meant anything more than politeness. Image means one thing here, and another thing there; it has no fixed meaning or connotation. I suppose I would offer my younger self this.

Bernard Matambo is a Zimbabwean national and Assistant Professor in the Creative Writing Program at Oberlin College. He has received residency fellowships from The Blue Mountain Center and the I-Park Foundation among others, and is one of Transition’s 2016 Pushcart Prize nominees.

Other authors in this cluster reflect on personal coming-of-age experiences: Bernard Matambo describes his determined fundraising tactics in the effort to leave Zimbabwe for college in the U.S.; Moraa Gitaa recalls idyllic days on the Kenyan coast with a friend whose family circumstances forced harsher realities on their paths to adulthood; Mbewane’s protagonist remembers his now-foreign homeland in a forgotten childhood photograph.

In addition, the issue features a sequel to Chris King’s 1998 article about the Nigerian democracy movement (Transition 77)—revealing details that were too dangerous to disclose at the time: chiefly, his and Wole Soyinka’s involvement in a plot to kill Sani Abacha.

All this and more from Transition 121, which is available now on JSTOR and Project MUSE.

http://iupress.typepad.com/blog/2016/12/editors-choice-working-the-city-transition-121.htmlEnter to win a copy of 'But What If There's No Chimney?'tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341fdff053ef01b8d243712f970c2016-12-07T08:51:13-05:002016-12-07T08:53:20-05:00We're giving away a copy of 'But What If There's No Chimney?' Fill out the form below by December 19 for your chance to win! Five-year-old Ben is new in town and shocked to find his house has no chimney!...iupress

Five-year-old Ben is new in town and shocked to find his house has no chimney! How will Santa get into his house to deliver gifts? As Christmas approaches, Ben looks for answers, asking his dad, friend, teacher, mailman, and even his dog! Ben's search ends with a letter to Santa Claus, Indiana. Will Santa reply, and what will he say?

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http://iupress.typepad.com/blog/2016/12/enter-to-win-a-copy-of-but-what-if-theres-no-chimney.html'Cuba's Racial Crucible' wins Best Book awardtag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341fdff053ef01b7c8b9012e970b2016-12-05T16:04:57-05:002016-12-05T16:04:57-05:00Cuba's Racial Crucible by Karen Y. Morrison has been selected as the winner of this year's Marysa Navarro Best Book Prize. The Marysa Navarro Best Book Prize is awarded annually by the New England Council of Latin American Studies. The...iupress

Cuba's Racial Crucible by Karen Y. Morrison has been selected as the winner of this year's Marysa Navarro Best Book Prize.

The Marysa Navarro Best Book Prize is awarded annually by the New England Council of Latin American Studies. The award committee offered this assessment of Morrison's work:

Karen Morrison’s Cuba’s Racial Crucible is a transformative volume in Latin American Studies that puts forward a profoundly interdisciplinary approach to understanding the nexus between race, individual and nation by focusing on the study of familial reproduction. Cuba’s Racial Crucible is a long durée account of the ways that families are made and remembered over three centuries. Structured as a study of the sexual economy of race, the volume showcases the value of conceptual cross-pollination between cultural studies, anthropology, sociology, history, African American and Latin American studies. As Morrison traces the particular political and social contexts within which individuals act to construct and reproduce of racial categories in Cuba from the 18th to the 20th century she employs nuanced and dynamic conceptualizations of culture, racial categorization and institutional dynamics. The meticulously documented national and familial narratives crafted by Morrison juxtapose a surprisingly wide breadth of historical sources― such as marriage, baptismal, and paternity petition records with prose or poetry by public intellectuals― in order to highlight the ways that state-making practices coalesce with religious and secular ideologies of family formation. Asking us to rethink the ways that individuals enact selves and families whilst making both race and nation, Karen Morrison moves us miles beyond facile accounts of mestizaje that too often characterize post-colonial histories.

http://iupress.typepad.com/blog/2016/12/cubas-racial-crucible-wins-best-book-award.htmlAlona Frankel at the Library of Congresstag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341fdff053ef01b8d242aba9970c2016-12-05T11:16:00-05:002016-12-05T11:25:49-05:00IU Press author Alona Frankel recently made an appearance at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C., reading to children and speaking about her new book, Girl. The official photographer of the Library of Congress was kind enough to share...iupress

IU Press author Alona Frankel recently made an appearance at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C., reading to children and speaking about her new book, Girl.

The official photographer of the Library of Congress was kind enough to share these photos with us. Take a look!

Frankel's most recent book, Girl, tells the story of her experiences as a Holocaust survivor. It is available now from IU Press. Learn more about the book in the video below:

http://iupress.typepad.com/blog/2016/12/alona-frankel-at-the-library-of-congress.htmlSix IU Press authors to appear at the Indiana Author Fairtag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341fdff053ef01b7c8b138f4970b2016-12-02T13:25:12-05:002016-12-02T15:26:03-05:00The Indiana Historical Society's annual author fair is this weekend, and six IU Press authors will be among the more than sixty authors featured at the event: Ray E. Boomhower - Indiana: An Interpretation Mandy Hussey - But What If...iupress

The Indiana Historical Society's annual author fair is this weekend, and six IU Press authors will be among the more than sixty authors featured at the event:

The author fair runs from noon until 4:00 p.m. tomorrow at the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center. Check out the Indiana Historical Society's event brochure for more information.

http://iupress.typepad.com/blog/2016/12/indiana-author-fair.htmlIU Press author appears on 'The Security Brief'tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341fdff053ef01bb095a0332970d2016-12-01T11:15:53-05:002016-12-01T11:15:53-05:00IU Press author and editor Hank Nuwer recently appeared as a featured guest on the program "The Security Brief." The episode, titled "Hazing Nightmares," details the dangers of hazing throughout the United States. Nuwer's appearance, which begins shortly before the...iupress

IU Press author and editor Hank Nuwer recently appeared as a featured guest on the program "The Security Brief."

The episode, titled "Hazing Nightmares," details the dangers of hazing throughout the United States.

Nuwer's appearance, which begins shortly before the 28 minute mark in the video below, discusses hazing-related deaths throughout the United States.

http://iupress.typepad.com/blog/2016/12/iu-press-author-appears-on-the-security-brief.htmlCheck out these three new basketball books from IU Presstag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341fdff053ef01b7c8b65c34970b2016-11-30T12:29:52-05:002016-11-30T12:29:52-05:00It's basketball season in Indiana, and what better way to settle in for the season than with these three great books from IU Press? Take an in-depth look at these three new basketball titles. Days of Knight Kirk Haston A...iupress

It's basketball season in Indiana, and what better way to settle in for the season than with these three great books from IU Press? Take an in-depth look at these three new basketball titles.

A former Hoosier forward, Kirk Haston offers unique insight into the coaching style of Bob Knight. Days of Knight delves into previously unknown stories about the legendary coach, including insights into the notoriously private coach and his no-nonsense style. Haston touches on the highs and lows of his own basketball career all while crafting a familiar yet new story for basketball fans everywhere.

Imagine that the defining moment of the lives of everyone you know happened 60 years ago. That's only a slight exaggeration for Milan, Indiana, the tiny town made famous by the movie Hoosiers. Since it's miraculous state basketball championship in 1954, the town has continued to believe that glory is just around the corner. Author Bill Riley explores the relationship between the town and its basketball team, showing how the legend of Milan lives on to this day.

Russell Grieger had a better than front row seat to the first perfect season in college basketball history: he was on the team. In 1964, Grieger was a starting guard for the Evansville Purple Aces, whose 29-0 season secured the NCAA College Division National Championship. In this personal, revealing work, Grieger explores the behind the scenes work that went into the undefeated season, the relationships between the players on the team, and what the season meant for a young man just beginning to find his way in the world.

http://iupress.typepad.com/blog/2016/11/check-out-these-three-new-basketball-books-from-iu-press.htmlPalestine's Perfect Stormtag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341fdff053ef01b7c8b2347c970b2016-11-30T10:35:12-05:002016-11-30T10:45:36-05:00By Cary Nelson As much of the world enters what may well prove a prolonged period of grave uncertainty in international relations—fundamentally triggered by the election of a US president with no clearly defined foreign policy and no foreign policy...iupress

By Cary Nelson

As much of the world enters what may well prove a prolonged period of grave uncertainty in international relations—fundamentally triggered by the election of a US president with no clearly defined foreign policy and no foreign policy experience—Israel and the Palestinians alike confront especially fraught uncertainty. For those committed to a two-state solution, the only means by which both parties to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can accommodate their national ambitions, matters are if anything still more serious.

Given that speculation about an unreadable near-term US foreign policy future is likely to accomplish nothing, one might wish that those on the ground in Palestine could settle for now for modest steps with the potential to improve living conditions and reduce mistrust. Unfortunately, the trial balloons being launched by president elect Trump’s advisors and the opportunistic pronouncements by members of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government are instead further destabilizing the situation. On the one hand we have Trump surrogates suggesting new US tolerance for illegal settlements; on the other hand we have Naftali Bennett announcing that the two-state solution is dead.

In fact, as Deferred Dreams: A Concise Guide to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict and the Movement to Boycott Israel demonstrates, the underlying and long-established structural conditions that must shape any resolution of the conflict remain unchanged. And the solutions most likely to accommodate both parties are if anything more clear and more fully worked out than they were even a few years ago. All of that is detailed and made readily accessible in the book.

One long-standing principle guiding negotiations has been the expectation that Jerusalem would be divided between West and East to become a capital city for both Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The US has long owned a plot of land in the Western part of the city destined to be the site of a new US embassy, with legislation already authorizing the embassy’s move from Tel Aviv approved years earlier. But a series of US presidents have exercised a delaying exception built into the law. It is too soon to know whether the incoming Trump administration will follow the delaying pattern or act on its campaign promise to trigger the move. Absent a peace agreement or a clear and binding administration commitment to a Palestinian capital in the Arab neighborhoods, such a move could well produce violent demonstrations both in the city itself and in the West Bank. Arab countries that have had their attention focused elsewhere would likely join in the unrest.

But Israel as well could act decisively to trigger protests on yet another front. A bill that would legalize previously illegal settlements and outposts is under consideration in the Knesset as of late 2016. While much radical legislation in Israel dies without advancing to final passage, the governing conservative coalition may be emboldened to act by the results of the US election and the remarks of Trump surrogates. Though the Obama administration has been unable to get serious negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians under way, it has largely constrained the Israeli right from formally annexing additional territory or changing the status of illegal settlements.

While it may be difficult for most Americans to realize it, many in the Israeli government are further to the right than the Prime Minister. They are obviously already pressuring Netanyahu to embrace settlement expansion more broadly, and, with Trump soon to take office, Netanyahu can no longer invoke the risk of angering an anti-settlement US administration as a way to constrain his coalition partners. Netanyahu himself seems mainly devoted to maintaining the status quo, despite its unjust treatment of Palestinians and its corrupting influence on Israel proper. As we look toward 2017, however, it appears the status quo may be difficult to sustain.

Meanwhile, conditions are already sufficient to make the Boycott, Sanctions, and Divestment (BDS) movement more determined to promote real and symbolic actions against the Jewish state. Trump’s election alone is sufficient to motivate some on the American left to join with BDS and support divestment resolutions on campus or in Protestant religious denominations. The pressure to “do something” in the face of political disenfranchisement and impotence will increase. Further developments along the lines described above would build support for a boycott of Israeli universities in the US and Europe.

There is also already a struggle under way among a wide range of nongovernmental political groups, including those focused on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, to capture prime positions within the vanguard of the post-election anti-Trump insurgency. Both those supporting a two-state solution, and, oddly enough, those opposed to one have a route through fund raising and activism. Support for a one-state solution of course comes from extremes of both the right and the left, with the former drawn to a Greater Israel model and the latter calling for a Palestinian majority state, “free” from the river to the sea. With Trump’s initial appointments telegraphing his alt-right sympathies, pro-Palestinian one-staters may have the edge in promoting themselves as protest agents, though Greater Israel proponents will see a potential opportunity to capitalize on incoming administration policies. As is so often the case, the left will fragment, not coalesce, especially with such fundamental and irreconcilable differences at stake.

But 2017 adds yet another high risk element to the political mix, this time courtesy of the calendar. It is the 50th anniversary of the 1967 war and thus the 50th anniversary of Israel’s military occupation of the West Bank. With no movement toward the end of the occupation in sight, it represents a bleak commemoration for Palestinians, and it only increases tensions for them to see Israelis celebrating it as the 50th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem. 2017 is also the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration that first gave Jews real hope of establishing a fully realized state in their ancient homeland. The BDS movement is certain to use these commemorations as bitter lessons and organizing opportunities. Dreams Deferred for the first time breaks the BDS movement down into its several semi-independent components, which should be helpful in planning for 2017. There is no “one strategy fits all” in addressing BDS inroads into academia, the financial services industry, and Protestant churches.

While there are real uncertainties at issue in all these developments and little is guaranteed, the potential for a perfect storm in Palestine, at the point of their convergence, cannot be ignored. Our current responsibilities include both political organizing and education. Dreams Deferred is designed to make a contribution to the education agenda and that in turn informs organizing. Intensified struggles over issues ranging from the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif to the anti-normalization campaign will benefit from the separate essays in the book addressing these and other topics.